


Sweet Bears and a Conversation More Bitter Than Coffee

by bluefirebabe, kaibagirl



Category: Fire Emblem: If | Fire Emblem: Fates
Genre: And uses too many emotes, But everyone thinks she's 17, But she's actually 25, Flora works to protect Corrin, Gen, Leo shows up and this happens, Literate RP, Modern AU, RP, RP Scene, She goes to highschool (to protect the Corn), She works at a maid cafe, The Nohrians are like the mafia, for extra cash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:49:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 8,853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27727718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluefirebabe/pseuds/bluefirebabe, https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaibagirl/pseuds/kaibagirl
Summary: Flora is on her shift at the maid cafe. Much to her surprise, the stuck-up brother of her best friend shows up! What will happen?And just HOW did he get that reservation?--Leo needs to investigate Corrin's mysterious "friend," who he's figured out is a bodyguard disguised as a high schooler.Why would she take that job? Or... did she have a choice in the matter at all?
Relationships: Flora & Leon | Leo
Comments: 8
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter was written by the lovely consumeeven! You should check out her works- she's an amazing writer!
> 
> I'd like to point out the fact that this chapter is exactly 666 words long. I very much appreciate the effort <3

Flora twirled out of the kitchen, carrying all sorts of decorated food: the sundae decorated to look like a cute bear, the cookies arranged into a flower shape, the tiny sandwiches poked through with flower-tipped toothpicks, as well as others. She balanced one plate on each hand as she walked about, looking as friendly as she could. The maid costume was a bit uncomfortable, with the excessive ribbons, but the job paid well and she looked decent, almost her actual age.

If only she could take off her half a pound of makeup and work here as a 25 year old; then again, if she was in the circumstances to do that she wouldn’t be working here in the first place. It was a shame that the establishment had hired an apparent 17 year old for such a job, but patrons were often kinder than one might think. They tipped heavily and she hadn’t gotten any creepy comments today, so she was in a good mood as she careened about to drop off food at various tables. A plate of star-shaped crackers here, a strawberry soft drink there, and a bill to that one.

Yes, this was a fun job. She passed another waitress as she walked back to the kitchen, and said something or other in traditional Hoshidan; all the phrases they learned were meant to be cutesy and Flora only knew the code they stood for rather than the literal meanings. She was always good at code. The fake maid’s break would be coming up soon, and she had just a few more orders to take and dish out first.

The chef handed her another plate as she walked by, with several heart-shaped tomatoes and nothing else. She’d been instructed to leave it at table 7, which she walked over to as she hummed a cheerful tune. It was always embarrassing, the behavior required of a waitress here, yet no one Flora knew was ever here. Reservations were required, so she made herself scarce if she recognized any names. Today, she hadn’t noticed anyone she was familiar with, so she was free to behave however she liked.

Ah, almost “however.” Of course, there was no exposing her real identity, and she often had to complain about calculus and homework, boyfriends (of which she truly had zero) and best friends, to pass as a high school senior.

The tomatoes seemed familiar, but it wasn’t until Flora reached table 7 that she regretted ever applying for a job here. Leo Königlich sat there, smug as ever, and if she were a bit more like her sister Flora would’ve dropped the plate. Instead, she set it down on the table, cursed under her breath, and sped away, back to the kitchen.

To convince her boss to give Flora her break early, she had to put on fake stammering and stuttering, and pretend as if she were embarrassed to see Leo Königlich because she was _intimidated_ by him. Flora was scared of Garon, certainly, not so much his bratty adolescent son. Corrin had proven herself to be a good friend, yet she didn’t have the same faith in Leo.

That acting did the trick, so as soon as her manager had turned away, she took a deep breath and stepped back out into the dining area, fists clenched. She found Leo and sat across from him, fuming with rage. She stole one of the decorated tomatoes and took a furious bit out of it. No doubt Corrin’s little brother (slightly younger, though a bigger gap than there was between herself and Felicia) had shown up to mock her or such. Gods, 17-year-olds could be so infuriating, even if they were someone already in college. And poor Flora had to pretend to be one.

“How on earth did you get in without a reservation? And how did you even know I worked here in the first place?!” She whisper-yelled, not wanting to bring any more unwanted attention to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We didn’t make this AU, our friend Jake did. If you’re interested, come roleplay it with us (spectators fine too!).
> 
> https://discord.gg/sDVPtR5HJ5


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is written by Kaibagirl! I love her Leo so much ❤️

Leo thought Flora was rather suspicious. It wasn’t just because of the excessive amount of emojis she used, but other things, too. For example, the hatred towards the Königlitch family- excluding Corrin. Flora was so… bitter, and hostile- and there didn’t seem to be a real reason for it. Sure, maybe she thought he was stuck up and arrogant, but why hate Xander? The family’s “golden boy”? Well, not “boy” anymore, but the title still stands. Everyone liked Xander, why didn’t she?

Other than that, just why did she accept the offer of being Corrin’s bodyguard? What if she was working for someone else, someone who wanted to lead the Königlitch family to their doom? What if she ended up hurting Corrin, or leading her astray- maybe she even wanted to make Corrin betray them? Perhaps get her involved with the mafia?

She was so young, too- or at least, said she was. He highly doubted a 17 year old would be offered the job of being someone’s bodyguard. If she was indeed 17, she was doing a very good job. Flora seemed to be just as annoying as everyone else his age.

When Leo found out where Flora worked after school, he decided to pay her a visit. It would do him no good to ponder upon the questions when he could just… 

ask her.

When he arrived at the maid cafe, he was immediately greeted by the cutesy looking staff. The general cuteness of the place threw him off a bit- how could anything look so….tooth-rottingly sweet?? He looked at the menu, dismayed by all the sweets on the menu. But wait… there were tomatoes on the menu? He could order that. Yes, that would be good. That, and a coffee. Heaven knows he would need it. The following conversation was surely going to give him a headache.

He placed his order and waited, studying his surroundings.

The maids passing by were so...happy? It was impossible for someone to be as happy at a job as they seemed. Perhaps that behavior was expected of the people that worked here? That was rather... sad.

It was also upsetting that they let a (supposed) 17 year old work here. Despite Leo’s dislike and suspicion of her, he hoped she didn’t have to work here too long. It didn’t seem like the ideal job. What if one day she went to work upset, and was forced to pretend to be cheerful? Leo would never be able to do that. He looked at a figure coming out of the kitchen.

Ah, Flora was walking towards him.

It took all of his self-restraint not to laugh. She was wearing a maid costume like the other staff, but he just… it was funny to him. She didn’t seem to be the type to wear such clothes. But then again, he didn’t know much about her.

He was about to thank her for bringing him his order, but she left before he could even start his sentence.

Was she seriously about to flee the cafe? Was he that intimidating to her?

Whatever the reason was, he remained in his seat, hoping she’d come back. Fleeing would only make her more suspicious to him, and then it would be time to research her history.

He was pleasantly surprised when she came back, and sat down across from him. Leo was amused when she took a tomato, letting out a low, quiet chuckle. She looked _furious_ , and it was hilarious to him. If she wasn’t who she said she was, she was quite the actress. The furrowed eyebrow was especially a nice touch.

“For your first question, I just showed up. They wouldn’t refuse the Königlitch son, now would they? Unless of course they wanted trouble. Don’t worry- I _did_ pay,” he said, a slight smirk pulling at his lips.

“For your second question: well, it’s not that difficult to follow a person. Especially when she seems so blissfully unaware that someone could be following her. People who think they’re good at lying are usually like that,” he continued. “You’re not a liar, now are you? At least, that’s what you _would_ say.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one's by me, consumeeven, so ahjdbget enjoy I guess?

_He knew._

Somehow this child, this indignant 17-year-old boy, somehow he's figured out Flora's entire life story is a sham, that she's really from the Kona family, that she's being used as a pawn in this deal because her father couldn't pay a debt in time, that she (to her great shame) has been slowly feeding Garon's beliefs to Corrin for the past four years. Or, more likely, he knew just some of those things. In retrospect, him constantly joking about her age in that cursed group chat should've been an indicator, but she thought he was just teasing her over that chem homework. She should've _known_ her excessive emojis weren't a solid cover for that stuff! But he wasn't saying she was 25, so there was no point in revealing herself. 

The color drains from her face but she quickly sticks a smile back onto her face. That's the café's motto, after all, "service with a smile!" No matter how much she dislikes being dolled up and made to tie a billion ribbons in her hair (she doesn't truly dislike it, but if she _did_ , it wouldn't matter) she's required to act cutesy about everything. Even now, as she narrows her eyes and leans closer to Leo to make her contempt well known, there's an almost childlike sort of anger present on her face. Heavens forbid this dolt makes her lose her temper and then her job!

Flora doesn't know what Leo knows. He's spoiled, which he's made clearer with her little line about paying to get in here without a reservation, and likely thinks he knows everything. Sure, he's in college at 17, but anyone with no social life and a good tutor could do that. It wouldn't be shocking to Flora at all if Leo had even paid his way into skipping grades. She wasn't a genius, and she'd gotten her first degree a semester early, so it was entirely possible a more lucrative kid could do that to a greater extent.

He could know any one of her secrets, but his implication that she's a liar gives no clue as to what. The laughing doesn't help, either. She sneers at him, childish as it is, and resorts to flick a tomato seed (which was placed on the fruit as an eye to the smiley face utop the heart) at Leo's face.

She decides to act as if she has no idea what she's talking about. Leo, even if he's not the genius he claims to be, won't fall for it. But it might bait him into saying what he does know, which would help Flora keep from letting out any information he didn't have any idea about. Keeping secrets wasn’t too hard; keeping her lips zipped was simple enough. The problem was that she couldn’t keep a lock on her _emotions_.

Just now, her face had gone from pale with shock to bright pink with fury. The panicked look in her eyes gave it away that whatever she said next would surely be a lie. The way she reached for another tomato heart gave it away that she forgot breakfast this morning. Her fists, clothed in those stupid barely-there gloves, clenched. The room seemed almost colder, with Flora’s emotional display in full view of every guest.

Her gray eyes darted to and fro, looking for anyone who might be associated with Leo or the Königlichs. Garon could’ve easily told his malleable child to go interrogate Corrin’s buddy, and she feared what punishment she might face if Garon had actually hired Leo for this. But, no, the look in his eyes… The confidence there made Flora certain he was doing this independently, with no idea what of hers he was risking. Foolish of him, it was.

“I’m no liar, Leo. I just work here part time to help pay the electricity.” Garon paid that. Even as she claimed to not be a liar, she was lying. Was that how much of her life was a sham? How double faced was she, really, to be such a hypocrite right now? Well, Leo was being a dick right now, so she pushed those thoughts aside. This was her stage. “Please don’t tell Corrin… You know her and Jakob would tease me endlessly.”

She said it loudly enough that people at the next table over could hear. Her personality was mostly intact despite her false identity, but she did have to act like a flustered schoolgirl fairly often. The guests here would believe her lie, her coworkers (several of whom were also high schoolers or college freshman) would find it consistent with the front she put up to them, and Flora didn’t care beyond that. The way her emotions made themselves known was annoying, but that had been a fact of her life since she was little. She would cry each time her father had to go to a meeting and leave her with Felicia. She would twirl around with joy and try to pick Kilma himself up when he got home. The pieces of herself which she could keep with her—her emotions, her first name, her sister—were things she held close to her heart, even if they weren’t positive things to begin with. 

“What did you follow me out here for? You know, stalking is not the way to get anyone to want to hang out with you.” She kept up the facade, her veins feeling full of ice, cold anger working its way through her system. If Leo didn’t make his intentions here clear as day soon, Flora might just slap him in the face.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 💞 kaiba wrote this one,, here comes the drama ohoho

As Flora smiled at him, Leo couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to the situation than what he suspected. Despite that, he kept his face devoid of any real emotion. If he was right, then Flora was likely very _dangerous_. And yet, there was some sort of...reluctance, in her eyes? He couldn’t read the emotion clearly. She was certainly an interesting one, now wasn’t she? Interesting was bad in this case, he didn’t truly know what he was working with. _Was she the killer, or the victim?_

The sneer was most _certainly_ childish. Just like his smirk, he supposed. They were both rather childish, now weren’t they? And yet, she just didn’t seem to be 17. It was something in her eyes, he thought. Something in her eyes that spoke she was more than just a pretty little airhead.

He let out a quiet, “cheerful” laugh as the tomato seed hit his cheek. Leo smiled at her. It wasn’t a smirk, but a true attempt at smiling. Despite trying to make it genuine, it was still a very fake smile. It didn’t matter, but they did, after all, have to keep up the appearance that nothing was wrong. As long as they didn’t look too deeply into Leo’s eyes, everything would be alright. They wouldn’t see his suspicion, his fear for his siblings’ safety. The fear of _not knowing_. They would only see his carefully sculpted mask. With luck, Flora wouldn’t be able to see through it either.

 _Flora_. Whoever she was, she wore her heart on her sleeves. One thing was for sure- he wouldn’t take anything she said as the truth. No, it would take more to convince him than just words. It would be useless to voice his observations of her. He wanted to see how long she could go, how long she could go without telling the truth.

He needed to know if she was in any danger. Was someone threatening her?

A 17 year old girl could easily be taken advantage of. Someone could’ve walked up to her, said, ‘Befriend the Königlich spawn,’ all while holding a gun to her head, and she would agree. Agree, because her life was in danger. He’d seen that sort of thing all the time. It was _disgusting_. Using _innocent people_ as pawns. Leo had nothing but contempt for those people.

And yet, _he was one of them._

It was sickening. _He_ was sickening.

He swore he’d protect her if she was being threatened. Hell, he’d _kill_ the people who were threatening her. _If_ that was what was happening. He’d show no mercy if she was working alone, trying to lead his dear sister to her doom.

She seemed terrified. Her eyes, darting around the room- what was she looking for? His eyes widened as the truth dawned on him. _Well, **a** truth_. Flora was frightened. Not of him, but someone else? As she looked back at him, the look on her face told him she realized he was working alone. It would have been nice to be able to say something, to reassure her that he wouldn’t let her be in any danger. But they weren’t friends. Nothing he could say or do would help.

And then, the reality that _she was a liar_ came back to him. His eyes, previously wide, filled with wanting to _help_ , to _comfort,_ returned to the original coldness. He was an enemy to her, and she to him. That fact would remain as long as a threat hung over his dear sister’s head.

He wished she spoke more quietly. But, alas.  
  
“Doesn’t my father pay you? You work for him, after all,” responded Leo, calm. Of course, maybe Garon wasn’t paying her _enough_. “I won’t tell anyone you work here.” If he did, well… she would surely find something disconcerting about _him._

“I’m not looking for _friendship,_ ” he said, voice as cold as Flora’s homeland. “I’m here to make sure you won’t hurt my sister or the rest of my _family._ ”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3 consumeeven wrote this one!
> 
> Flora seems to be a bit more understanding in this response. Can't wait to respond >:)

So he only knew the least concerning secret Flora kept, the cleanest part of her occupation. She could work well with that, as well as she did the job itself. Flora despised her employer and wanted to rip out her hair and sob everytime she remembered how she had been 'hired,' not to mention how terrible a second run-through of highschool was, yet that aspect of the job in itself wasn't so bad. Corrin was a little bratty sometimes, though overall a nice girl that Flora had no qualms about protecting from what threatened her. And a surprisingly high amount of things threatened her, be it math tests or murderers.

The nasty part of the job was trying to get Corrin to follow her father's orders. Flora, while posing as a regular high schooler, did not 'know' that Garon led the mafia. She could use that as an excuse when she dropped 'your father knows best' or 'you're going to thank him when you're older' into a conversation. She'd been allowed to retain her respect for her own father in her new personality, though he had a fake name and she had to pretend he was overseas, in order to cover for Felicia and Flora living alone. Their mother remained… out of the picture as ever.

Flora was fortunate enough to not have her father be Garon, though she did know all too well what it was like to not have the greatest father. Kilma was kind, but his favorite was so obvious; Felicia, who looked _just_ like their late mother had, always got more attention and more praise. Flora still loved Kilma, just was upset with him for preferring one twin over the other.

Now that they were away doing this job, she supposed it didn't matter so much.

Even if she'd been offered this job instead of being forced to take it, it would not have been her first choice. Slipping propaganda into someone's mind, that down the line might cause them to assist in taking lives and money? Abominable. And fighting people was not her thing. Words were Flora's preferred knives, and to see blood drain out of an assassin always made her a bit sick, regardless of them being an attempted murderer.

She always wanted to take down the mafia, since she was young. Her degree, while useful for her father’s business too, she had only gotten to help her seek justice; her further studies into criminal justice were going to be what ultimately helped her dismantle the damned thing. Now she was being employed by the very leader of it. Quite ironic, yes? Flora was powerless to do anything but keep up her work, attempting to _brainwash_ Corrin into trusting Garon (to little success, thankfully), and doing the slightly more gratifying work of being a bodyguard.

If Leo knew all the details of her job, he surely must hate her. She hated herself a bit for going so easily with Garon, for not doing something about it or trying to run. But she cared too much for Felicia to leave her here, and knew she couldn't convince her to flee. Besides, her father would be in danger. All it took was a call from the high school to Garon, saying the Isoldes had not shown up to school that day, and her father would be on the chopping block for it.

"I don't _get_ paid, for your information. My job with Garon serves the purpose of paying off a debt." Garon paid the necessities, otherwise her maid café job was all that kept her pockets lined.

Flora still did not outright admit to working in any mafia-related position. So far, it could sound like she just wrote articles or passed out newspapers for Garon, and the debt could be explained away too if anyone in the store inquired. Perhaps Kilma just wanted a new car, so he asked his good friend Garon for the money for one; in exchange, Flora and Felicia took up part time jobs working for him. That would make sense, and not be suspicious to anyone. Garon was known for being a man of good business.

It was clear Leo knew her true job, so to cover it up would just serve to make him more upset with her. She didn't care too much about Leo's feelings towards her (she was an adult woman, for goodness's sake). No, what she was concerned about was the power he held. At Corrin's age, it would be a wonder if he held much influence in the mafia. He was allegedly a genius, however, so it might be possible he could pull strings and get Flora in serious trouble for whatever she said in the café.

And his concerns about his family were valid. Like it or not, Flora had to admit he was being sensible about them. If she was in this situation with Felicia being in potential danger, she'd confront the danger too.

Yet she was a bodyguard of Corrin's. Thinking Flora was out to harm her was ridiculous. The one she wanted dead was Garon (although Leo was creeping up on her dislike list), and she respected the other Königlichs as best she could. Her rare occasions while texting, when she let slip that she was disgusted by Camilla or Xander, were just that, rare. She never let on that the reason she didn't like them was that they did Garon's dirty work, so she let them think it might be personal. The only one she needed to have like her was Corrin, anyways.

She did think Xander was a man of good virtue, if she ignored the fact she knew of his massive body count. Camilla was a good newswoman, and when Flora watched her broadcasts she tried not to think about the lives that woman had helped take. Corrin, from what Flora knew of her mafia involvement, was mostly innocent. Then the youngest, Elise, Flora wasn’t repulsed by her either. They were all decent people, just brought into the world (or adopted by, in one case) by a terrible man. Flora couldn’t look at the oldest two without seeing their father’s wretched greed.

“My ‘job’ is to protect your sister, Leo. Frankly, I’m shocked you might think I’m set out to cause her harm.” She set down her half-eaten tomato heart, which resembled a broken heart now that she’d bitten into it. Flora threw Leo a line, a little crack into the ice of her heart, a small dose of her true self. He was being a jerk, but she could relate to him despite his stupid remark. “I can understand your sentiment, misplaced as it is. My sister is also very dear to me.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was written by me, Kaiba!
> 
> Did I mention I like angst..?

She didn’t get paid for her work? Interesting. Leo leaned forward, elbows resting on the table. He searched Flora’s face for any hint, any slight movement that indicated that she was lying to him.

He found nothing. She was telling the truth, even if she wasn’t telling him the whole story. It was a start, he supposed.

He held her gaze as he began to speak, a mask of calm over his face. It wouldn’t do him well if she knew what he was thinking right now, anyway. “A debt, you say?” he asked. Leo hoped she wouldn’t try to lie about her real job. He knew what it was, he just wanted to make sure she wouldn’t betray them or bring his sister to any harm. Leo absolutely _refused_ to outright threaten her. No, that wouldn’t be a fair game. Despite his age, it wouldn’t be difficult to get her in trouble (or worse, killed). The last thing he’d ever want was for the girl (?) in front of him to die. Despite his suspicions of her, she was still protecting his sister.

Vaguely, he wondered if Flora knew about the things he’d done for the mafia. Surely she’d know about Xander and Camilla… but from what she said in the groupchat, it seems that her dislike for him was only personal. She thought he was a smug, arrogant, know-it-all brat. And Leo was in no position to deny it, because not even his sister stuck up for him. It stung, knowing that he was always the least favorite sibling. They only ever needed him for homework and computer work. It was always Corrin and Elise that were doted on, that were praised. Nothing he did was ever good enough for Camilla, for Xander. And obviously, he’d never get his Father’s praise.

  
Despite telling himself it didn’t matter, it hurt. It hurt so, so much. But that wasn’t relevant, not now, not ever.

He felt a headache coming on. God, it wasn’t even the conversation with Flora that caused it. It was his own, stupid thoughts. How pathetic.

Leo watched Flora as she spoke. He had no will at all to argue, to try to dig deeper. As she put down her half-eaten tomato heart, he realized that he hadn’t eaten since the morning. It didn’t matter, as he had no appetite now.

“You can never be too careful, I suppose,” he replied. “Your sister… She doesn’t look like a threat. Innocence is deceiving, however. I will give you the benefit of the doubt, but I promise you, if you ever hurt my family… I will show you no mercy.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was written by consumeeven <3 Gosh you write a lot.
> 
> I am upset that Flora thinks Leo is stupidddd T.T
> 
> My response is coming soon, I promise~

So he was actually stupid, then. How many times was she going to have to repeat that her job was to protect Corrin before it got into Leo’s head? Flora had disposed of numerous assassins, intercepted shady dealings, helped Corrin pick out a homecoming dress, had even participated in baseless high school gossip just to help Corrin reputation out. That girl’s attitude was endearing after one knew her long enough, but it could be awful to whoever Corrin set out to attack with it. Threats within a high school’s “economy” weren’t included in her job, but Flora actually cared enough about Corrin as a person to defend her from them.

Then here was Leo, insisting Flora would ever try and hurt Corrin. While Flora was about 7 years older than Corrin, she’d grown to care about the girl as more than someone to work protecting. Flora took her makeup tips, hung out with her on weekends, always made excuses for when Flora was unable to spend time with her (usually because she had to do something related to her job with Garon), and although she didn’t bond with Corrin or care about her as much as Felicia did, Flora considered her a real friend. Not one she would tell real secrets, not one she would reveal her true last name or occupation to, but a friend nonetheless.

Garon’s only virtuous deed was employing people to protect his children. The means he went to in order to get bodyguards were cruel—a memory of tears slipping down Kilma’s face as he told his daughters, who’d just come home for a holiday weekend, that they needed to go with Garon’s men passes by Flora’s mind—, and the reasons his children needed to be protected to this extent were all absurd violence.

  
  
In Flora’s opinion, Leo’s contradictory thinking was putting her and Garon Königlich on the same level. Being compared to the person she hated _most_ in the entire world? She wanted to vomit, to throw all the sickly-sweet decorated food in Leo’s face, to at least tell him off or make use of the only gift Garon ever gave her: advanced combat training.

And how dare he insult her sister like that. Flora might be jealous of her, even excessively, and she might hold grudges against her twin for years at a time, but Felicia was the farthest from evil someone could be. She was just too innocent for her own good. It was a wonder she was even taken along to “work” for Garon, with how clumsy she could be. Then again, Felicia was surprisingly adept at the combat portion of the job, and was loveable enough that no one ever suspected her to be anything but Corrin’s best friend. Flora’s bitter jealousy even flared up at that; she wished she could only be more likeable, not always so… Emotional? Out of control? All the negatives of her personality tended to blend together at this point, and the stress of the situation here coupled with how furious she was at it all was not helping her untangle her thoughts.

“Leo, is something not clicking? I’m _literally_ —” Before she could explain that she was literally Corrin’s bodyguard, that Felicia was the same (and how dare he insult her sister, who was just too innocent for her own good, how dare he try to imply Felicia was in any way evil!), a group of high school boys Flora recognized walked in. They saw her immediately, snickering behind their palms, and she pretended not to notice them. Maybe they would just assume she was here eating with her friend, Leo. If anything, the fact both Flora and these boys were at a maid cafe meant they couldn’t use it against one another. High school drama was so petty, though…

  
  
Flora lowered her head down in shame before continuing, having to alter her conversation topic as the boys walked by to find a table of their own. “Literally, Leo, I told Felicity a _thousand_ times! And she still wouldn’t stop taking all of Kyle’s attention, like, show-off much? Glad I left his sorry ass in the end.” She had no trouble slipping into the role of a gossiping schoolgirl, and the scenario and names came to her just as quickly. Almost too quickly, she realized as her eyes opened wide in alarm.

Kilma and Kyle, Felicia and Felicity… They weren’t similar enough to raise suspicion, right? Somehow her wish for attention from her father was in her subconscious enough for her to project that into the mindless drabble she spit out. She hadn’t even been thinking about it, and something personal had slipped out! What an awful secret-keeper she was, cracking before this teenage boy could even threaten her for real. His “no mercy” he spoke of was, what, her being excluded from a neighborhood DnD game? Unless he brought a gun or some backup, she refused to be intimidated by him.

She glared, eyes ice cold, at the boys who had now seated themselves on the opposite side of the café. Hopefully Leo, somewhere in that swollen, yet hollow, smooth mess he called an intelligent brain, would get the hint that her last words were just an act. Without missing another beat, her voice dropped an octave and a bit of her Southern Nohrian accent slipped back in.

  
  
“Ahem, back to the conversation at hand. What reasons do you have to distrust me? If you’ve done this much investigating into my occupation, you’d surely know your father himself picked me and my sister out for the job?” She sighed. Flora really had no clue what exactly Leo knew, and she wasn’t one to give out extra information willingly. It would make it obvious she was hiding something if she just asked for Leo’s knowledge on her situation, though, so she resigned to make one little exception. “What do you know, exactly? Tell me every little piece of information you know, and I’ll answer one question you have about me or my job as your sister’s bodyguard.”

She intended to answer any question he gave her honestly, so long as he complied with her first request. Of course, there were certain questions she’d never answer, but those were the sort Leo wouldn’t even know enough about her to ask. For example, the conspiracy chart Flora had put together to even know who lead the mafia in the first place (that had taken up enough of her high school years for her to only keep a handful of friends), or anything personal about her life before coming here. Her roommates, her father, her college… That would all have to stay private. 

Flora liked to pretend, sometimes, that her college life, that her friendships she’d been forced to leave behind overnight, that everything she’d abandoned was just on pause for now. When Corrin graduated, she could just go back to her normal life with everything just as it was before… Or so she liked to think. In reality, her entire life and all of her dreams had been torn away. There was no telling what she might have to do after this high school employment, if Garon decided Kilma’s debt wasn’t paid off yet. If Flora fully realized her life was ruined forever, she might do something horrible with that rage. So it was the one emotion she managed to repress at all.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kaiba's beautiful Leo strikes again!!

Leo found Flora’s facial expressions almost comical. The irritation, anger, and disbelief (among other emotions...was that disgust?) all appeared clearly on her face.  
  
Her slipping into a schoolgirl act was equally as amusing. My, she is quite the actress, isn’t she? That was a bit worrying. But, if she truly was just protecting his sister, it was fine. That acting might save his sister’s life some day, after all.

He glanced at the snickering high school boys. Did Flora know them? Leo was glad he was going to college, those boys seemed beyond obnoxious.

Felicity? Felicia? Hm.. Who was Kyle?

“My, that Felicity sounds like she gives you a lot of trouble…” he responded, hoping for a bit more information. Leo didn’t expect he was going to get any, though. He took one of the decorated tomatoes and popped it into his mouth. It tasted amazing.

“Why are you asking me to tell you every bit of information I know about you? Does that mean you _do_ have something to hide?” asked Leo. Then, he sighed. “Listen, as much as I’m sure your little secrets must be very interesting, I don’t care as long as my family doesn’t get hurt. Surely even you could understand that?”

Leo was no fool. He knew very well that she thought he was an idiot. But… it didn’t matter to him what she thought. She was basically a stranger to him. It hurt far more when Corrin agreed with Flora, but… 

“The ‘debt’ you mentioned is bugging me. You’ve gotten quite close to our family, and you probably know some of our… unsavory secrets. What worries me… is Father’s intentions _after_ your debt has been paid,” said Leo, voice just loud enough for Flora to hear him. “Has he said anything to you, what will happen?”

Maybe it was better to get to the point, since Flora wasn’t the type to give information freely. “I’m worried that he’ll have you killed.”

“You realize that your friendship with Corrin won’t protect you, right? She has a… well, she cares a lot about you. But that won’t be enough to protect you from Garon.”

Leo thought Father didn’t care about his children. It would be a miracle if he was proven wrong. One thing was certain: Garon absolutely did _not_ care about his childrens’ friends and bodyguards.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ew my flora. anyways

Little did Leo know that Flora's acting truly _had_ saved Corrin's life, several times. How many assassins had she had to dispatch this year? This month? More than she liked to imagine, it was horrible how many people wanted a 17 year old girl dead just because her father was a scumbag. She'd gotten less severe versions of that treatment in her own actual high school years, since people loved to tease her as Kilma's company slowly collapsed, but that had stopped after Kilma took a loan from the mafia. And no one had tried to _kill_ Flora, even if there were one or two incidents with awful customers.

Leo did know more about her than she was comfortable with, though. If only he would just agree to tell Flora what he knew, but this boy just could never cooperate...

Flora knew that he knew she was horrible. Exactly how lowly Flora thought of herself, that was a secret, but anyone who worked for the mafia was a horrible person by virtue. The fact Flora had just let Garon take her to this part of Nohr was despicable. Her father and sister’s lives would’ve been on the line if she _didn’t_ go willingly with the Königlichs, but with how much she hated the mafia to begin with, Flora had disgusting doubts. Everything she wanted to do in her life had been torn from her, her dreams and aspirations gone, all because she hadn’t put up any fight. She’d spend months training for the bodyguard job, and never used her newfound skills to resist.

She couldn’t ever resist, because then Felicia and her father would be in danger. Sometimes Flora had intrusive thoughts, sometimes she wondered— _’we’re all captives anyways, so would it really matter?'_ Obviously it’d matter! She was a selfish and cruel person for even allowing the thought of risking her family member’s lives to pass through her head, even if she would never actually risk anyone’s safety.

There were worse thoughts she’d had, too. Corrin was only a 14 year old girl when Flora, 21 then, was “informed” she would need to put her life aside to protect her. Flora hated the mafia so bitterly, had planned since her father first took a loan from them (he had told young Flora this long before he told Felicia, and Flora held it close to her heart as the one time she’d been chosen over her sister) to take down the evil organization. So when she first met Corrin, a defenseless and immature child, Flora had… Flora had wanted to kill Corrin.

She never did, she could never bring herself to do it. But the desire to kill Garon’s daughter, to take her own twin and run away was always in the forefront of Flora’s mind. Corrin probably thought Flora was jealous of her, and that that was why Flora was so bitter towards her. But Flora was waiting for an opportunity. Garon didn’t trust her, reasonably, but this employment under him had given Flora so much information on the mafia which she hated so much. She knew of many of the Königlichs connections, she knew the location of all of the children of the family, and she knew just about everything about Corrin Drake, the child Garon had adopted—likely for the sake of his reputation. Taking in an orphan made him seem much more kind hearted than he really was.

Eventually, though, Flora’s plans to murder Corrin faded. They weren’t ever really plans, just wishes; wishes that Flora might be free from this job if she could just destroy the person she was meant to be protecting. Yet in the process of learning more about Corrin, which started as just attempting to fit in and pretend to be her friend, Flora had realized that Corrin was a _person_. They never discussed the mafia together, as Flora needed to keep her true identity a secret from the girl she guarded as it was clear that Corrin’s heart was too kind for her to want anything to do with the mafia.

Mindless assassins, murderers, thieves, thugs, sure, Flora would kill them. But a person—a child? No, she would protect Corrin with her life, even if she never wanted to be in this position in the first place.

She could never tell Leo any of that, as it would prove his suspicions that she was out to hurt Corrin. Flora had moved on, she _never_ wanted to even consider hurting Corrin ever again, she was awful for ever considering killing a child just because of who her father was. Painful as it was to admit he was right for once, Flora knew Leo would be smart to believe she still intended to hurt Corrin. It was rare that people ever changed.

Unfortunately, Leo was also right about something else. Felicia was a troublemaker, but Flora just wanted to be like her. She wanted Kilma to appreciate her the same, she wanted to stop being cast aside. Kilma had told Flora once, when she was in fits of tears over Felicia getting more attention from everyone again (she was like 10, alright?!), that he was just more harsh on her because she was going to need to be tough to carry their company some day. 

Did she believe that? She wasn’t sure. Flora at least knew that it wasn’t the only reason. Her and Felicia were twins, even if Flora was older by a little bit, so either of them could take over the company if they wanted. No, Flora believed that Kilma preferred Felicia because of Mother. 

Mother hadn’t expected to ever have twins. She was a bit frail in body, though Kilma always described her as a warrior in spirit. Flora’s parents spent months preparing to have a little girl, and they made a beautiful nursery in pink for her. Everything was perfect, all ready for Kilma and his wife to raise _one_ child together, a normal and happy family. No one had predicted that, just after Flora was born, Felicia came out of the womb as well. Mother had passed, too weak to handle the strain of giving birth, and Flora had never even really met her.

Kilma had no notice that he’d have two daughters, and his wife was gone, so he picked Flora’s name (for the flowers someone had brought to the waiting room, he said, but Flora thought it was just a random name) and had a friend bring over an extra crib. Now he was down one wife and up one set of twins, and Flora always thought he might have blamed her for it. He didn’t, he swore profusely that he could never blame an infant for something like that, but Flora just had her doubts. Father was a kind man, though even so...

Felicia looked just like their mother had, down to the hairstyle . Flora was born first, yet was not given the name Mother had picked out (of course, her horrid middle name marked her as a part of the company for life, but that wasn’t the problem). In her mind this could only be because Felicia looked like her late mother, while Flora just had Kilma’s gray-blue hair at birth. Kilma had said he saw a lot of himself in Flora, once, and Flora always wondered what it meant. 

Oh well, communication with her father was strictly forbidden now. It’d been four years since she got to talk to him, and Felicia would never understand all of this; Flora couldn’t put the burden of something as heavy as this on her dear sister.

“I have nothing to hide, Leo.” She fibbed, panic visible on her face. “I just think you may have misconceptions about me, which I would like to clear up.” Not a complete truth, not a complete lie, just what was necessary. Flora suspected this was the same tactic Leo was using, for his supposed indifference on whatever Flora’s purpose was (when he’d been so demanding prior) made no sense to her.

She didn’t want to reply to his stupid concerns, because he hadn’t followed her part of the deal she’d tried to make. The espionage was scared, too. It was very possible Garon would hurt her if Kilma still hadn’t paid off his debt, and since she couldn’t even communicate with her father—using the internet to see his net worth or some such thing was out of the question, as the mafia controlled reporting on companies too—to see how the debt was going, it was possible the Königlichs might hurt her anyways. Or her father, or her sister, or her old roommates, or anyone else she knew. Their reach was scary.

For all that Leo was right about, he was still wrong about some parts of this. “I will admit… I’m scared of what he could do with me after my job protecting Corrin is done.” If she wasn’t going to be freed, she could hope to keep her job protecting Corrin throughout college. That way she might at least get to take a few more courses, get to enjoy the experience she’s been missing so much for four years. She wouldn’t object to getting to protect a younger Königlich or something either (preferably not Leo, though). But Garon was never one to be kind to his captives. 

He’d given her just over 2 months to train for a job that involved getting rid of professional hitmen; he could easily throw her into a completely different occupation with very little training. The fact he’d taken such a risk with Flora and Felicia showed that he didn’t even care much for Corrin’s safety, and sometimes Flora wondered if he was hiring some of these assassins himself, for fun. It would certainly explain how they tended to know of attacks in advance. Even with her troubles with her own father, though, Flora could not imagine any dad trying to get his own daughter killed.

“But you’re wrong, Leo. So long as he can find something to use me for, your father will not have me killed.” Dear gods, was she tearing up? It was so stupid, her life had been over for 4 years, she should be used to nothing she wanted ever happening anymore already. The fact she was in senior year (no, Corrin was in senior year. Flora was just following her) made things so much more stressful. The reality that she might not be freed even after this job was setting in.

She hated to open up to Leo. He was just an egotistical brat, some stupid rich kid who got to go to college, he was just a nuisance who came to annoy Flora at her embarrassing part time job. Maybe she hated Leo too much. Initially, she had hated Corrin and wanted to hurt, to murder, to rip apart the poor girl just because she was so angry with Garon Königlich. With time, she came to appreciate that Corrin was _not_ her father. Flora wasn’t her own father, despite the similarities in appearance. 

She knew she shouldn’t hold Corrin and Leo to different standards, but it had taken her so long to stop having an unfair bias against the former. Leo was annoying, even outside of who his family was, though maybe Garon was somehow to blame for that too? Flora’s father was always busy with his shaved ice business, so she could somewhat relate to how having a father addicted to his business might affect someone as they grew up.

So maybe she was being unfair to Leo; it might not have been his fault he was such a brat, and just because he got to be 17 and in college while she was college aged and pretending to be 17 didn’t mean he’d in any way caused the problems in her life. Flora had to come to terms with the fact she was projecting, at least a little.

Still, she wasn’t a big fan of him. The maid café employee hated to be so vulnerable, especially at work where everyone could see her. Yet Flora couldn’t help it as she put her elbows on the table and held her face in her hands. The waterworks started, hot tears coming out of her eyes as she tried to hide her emotions. A futile effort, considering she was sniffling as she spoke. “I-If he was just going to kill me, I suppose it— _hic_ _—_ wouldn’t be so much of a problem. My wh-whole life is already r-ruined, I-I’m just…” 

She took a deep breath. There was no point hiding the tears, but she could at least try and have some dignity here. Flora took a napkin from the table and used it like a handkerchief. She dabbed at her eyes, trying to convince them to stop crying. Her boss was not going to be happy if she still looked like she’d been sobbing after her break was over, and she didn’t want to make a fool of herself in front of some 17 year old. Flora inhaled, exhaled, and kept speaking.

“Fine, I’ll admit it, I’m scared. I abhor my current situation, but it… It really could get worse, if your father wished. Gods, why am I telling you this?” She shook her head. “Just ignore me, forget I said anything. I-I should get back to work before I make a complete spectacle of myself.”

  
  



	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was written by me, Kaiba!

“Well, I think you _do_ have something to hide. But, I see now that your secret is not one that will harm my sister,” he replied, taking a sip of water. Why did she seem so panicked? Leo’s lip curled. His father was likely the cause of her distress, somehow.

Turns out he was right. “I understand your fear. Father is…” what, heartless? The amount of people that Leo had killed surely blackened his heart. It wouldn’t be long before it was just like his father’s. The thought was terrifying. Then he realized he trailed off. Perhaps the best word to describe Father was the one he thought of previously. “He’s heartless,” he finished, voice coming out quieter than intended.

“Oh I _know_. He would never throw away a usable pawn,” replied Leo. “Unless of course, the pawn disobeyed in some way, which is…” coming from experience. Leo was certain that his father would have him killed if he went against orders. He had come to terms with that fact years ago. Then Leo realized he’d trailed off again. How embarrassing. He couldn’t end his sentence without bringing up a bad memory.  


  
The waves of hate he felt coming from Flora _stung_. What had he done to her to make her hate him so much? Nothing, probably. She likely hated him for who his father was, and, if she knew, for the people Leo had killed. He couldn’t blame her, he would hate himself too.

And then, she began to cry. Leo stared at her, unable to move or even breathe. He felt so bad. It was _him_ that had pushed, him that had brought her to tears.

He knew how to do many things, but handling a crying woman wasn’t one of them. This is… he could do the same things he did when he comforted Elise, right? But, Elise didn’t hate him. Flora did. This was a very stressful situation for Leo. Still, it’d be better to do _s_ _omething_ than nothing, right?

Leo scooched over to sit next to Flora, silently thanking the cafe for having a ‘U’ shaped booth. Gently, he wrapped his arms around her.

“Hey, it’s alright. Not everything is ruined, you have your sister a-and, I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you don’t get killed. If nothing else, I can find you a place where my father will never find you. It’ll be okay, I promise.”

“Do you want anything from the menu? You’re probably starving. I can order you anything you’d like, my treat,” he asked. 

Leo would never forget her tears, or her words, despite her wishes.

It was… heartbreaking.


End file.
